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Asia Cup Trophy Controversy, India vs Pakistan: Kapil Dev faces intense backlash over Asia Cup trophy row remarks, branded ‘loose cannon’ by netizens and leaders, ismein kirmani ka bhi daal diyo

Former India captain Kapil Dev has found himself in the middle of a backlash over his remarks amid the ongoing Asia Cup trophy controversy after the India vs Pakistan final.

While netizens bashed Kapil's comments, the Army veteran and author Kanwal Jeet Singh Dhillon also came up with a disagreement, highlighting the ground reality about the "neighbour" country. Lt Gen (retd) KJS Dhillon, also well-known by his nickname ‘Tiny’, said in a post on X that the neighbouring country "is a terrorist state”, which is killing India's innocent civilians. He said that it is best to keep Pakistan “where they belong".

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Notably, India defeated Pakistan by five wickets in the final at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Sunday to lift their ninth Asia Cup title.

The Indian team maintained its stance on the neighbouring country as the matches took place against the backdrop of border tensions after the April 22 Pahalgam attack that left 26 people dead and the Operation Sindoor carried out by the Indian Armed Forces in response.

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The Indian players refused to shake hands with their Pakistani opponents and declined to accept the Asia Cup trophy from Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman and interior minister Mohsin Naqvi.

Reacting to the rising tensions between the two teams, Kapil Dev said that when the team has received a go-ahead from the cricket board or the country to play against Pakistan, then "go and play".

"And shaking hands is not a big thing. I don't think it's a big thing," the 1983 World Cup-winning captain told India Today in an interview.

He further said that the Indian government has decided that the country does not want to let Pakistan come out again and again, and try to disturb our nation. "But one thing everybody has to understand is that they are the neighbour. And you want to have a good neighbour. They can say the same thing, and we can also say the same thing. The only way forward is to have a dialogue, you have to talk to them again and again," Kapil Dev said.

He went on to say that over the past 70 years, there has been little improvement in the ties between the two countries. "They are our neighbour, we should try our best as a big brother to solve the problem," the cricket legend added.


'Neighbour is a terrorist state'

Dhillon, who also recently authored a book on Operation Sindoor. He said he "absolutely disagrees" with Kapil Dev.

"Let us not take this neighbour and big brother thing too far with utter disregard for the ground realities," he said in a post on X.

Dhillon highlighted the "ground reality", saying that the neighbour is a "terrorist state and his terrorists are killing our innocent civilians and our security forces personnel are making the supreme sacrifice for decades now".

"Let's keep them where they belong and deserve — down there. Period," KJS Dhillon added.

Adding more to the controversy, the former India wicketkeeper Syed Kirmani has said that the gentlemanliness of cricket has vanished across the world and there have been very rude gestures on the field, as he slammed India’s stance of not shaking hands with Pakistan cricketers as well as not receiving the trophy from Mohsin Naqvi.

"The way cricket is being played all around, I would not like to take the names of the countries, by and large, there has been no gentlemanliness in the game. There have been very rude, arrogant gestures on the field," Kirmani said while speaking to ANI.

Kirmani shared that he was getting messages from friends worldwide asking, "What’s happened to the Indian team? What is this politics being played out on the field?"

"I am ashamed to listen to the comments from my friends. My friends say, ‘Your time was different. You played like gentlemen. But what has happened to the current era of cricketers globally?" Kirmani questioned.